Premier League Wednesday, Gameweek 24: Open Thread

Who needs El Clasico when you have Arsenal against Liverpool? The match at the Emirates Stadium promises to feature lots of goals due to leaky defenses from both teams, as well as a race for fourth place in the Premier League.

On top of all that, you have Liverpool supporters who are planning on hoisting banners and handing out leaflets to protest the extravagant prices that football supporters are being charged for home and away matches.

The challenge today for fans of English football is trying to watch as many matches as possible (or figuring out which ones to watch). Manchester United hosts Southampton in the first real test for new manager Mauricio Pochettino (his appointment right before the Everton match didn’t give him much of an opportunity to try anything different or for the players to better understand his tactics).

Over at Norwich‘s Carrow Road, there’s the possibility of new Tottenham signing Lewis Holtby making his debut appearance for the Lilywhites.

Fulham plays West Ham United in a London derby at Craven Cottage where both teams will be desperate for a win after poor performances of late.

Everton host West Bromwich Albion in a match where the Toffees were hoping that FC Twente’s Leroy Fer would make his debut. But the Eredivisie footballer will not be joining the club after complications arose during a medical where Fer was discovered to have a knee problem.

Last but not least, Reading plays Chelsea at Madejski Stadium in Royal Berkshire. I don’t see the Blues getting a royal reception against a revitalized Reading side who are gaining in confidence and will be ready to show everyone what they’re made of. Chelsea, meanwhile, will be hoping to bounce back after their disappointing performance against Brentford on Sunday.

Before, during or after today’s matches, post your rants, raves, questions or observations in the comments section below.

About The Author

Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

And that’s the difference between Carrick and players like Scholes and Iniesta. When Carrick picks the ball up from the defense and gets put under pressure 9/10 he’s just going to pass it back to the defender to maintain possession, especially when he has his back to the opposing goal.

Players like Scholes and Iniesta no matter who quickly they are closed down always seem to have time to turn and keep the ball moving foreword. Very rarely will scholes take more than 2-3 touches of the ball at any given time. Carrick is at his best when has the time to turn with the ball at his feet and look up field.

Serious question…does any one know if NBC plans to ruin all the rest of the games with constant score updates like espn does or will NBC work like FOX Soccer and not tell us every goal scored in every other match?

Would anyone be surprised if played 4-5 more seasons at Arsenal and then decided to leave if they don’t win anything.

I’ve been impressed every time Ive seen him. He can pass, tackle and he’s not afraid to take the space when it opens up in front of him. If he just becomes a little more consistent on a weekly basis he could go far in the game.

Got to disagree a little. His work rate and tracking back was top notch tonight. Several times when our attacks broke down he got backer quicker than our midfielders and full backs. That combined with his link up play with kagawa in the first half was like the Rooney if old.

Hopefully this is the start of one of the goal scoring sprees he goes on. If we can extend our lead by a couple more points in the coming weeks it would give us a chance to have a good go at the FA cup and champions league without having to worry too much about resting our starters for the league.

Ian Darke is such a phony idiot, on twitter when Southampton sacked Adkins he was going on about how now Southampton will relegate for sure…but at the end of the ESPN broadcast he was confident Southampton will stay up